Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-09-03

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eral attempts had been made to free
him, he remained a prisoner.
His arrest had been a severe blow to
/ the welfare Of JacoviIle. Its inhabi-
tants no longer found pleasure IN their
/ pursuits, for tn III source OF inspiration
was gone.
! They gave themselves up to regret
! over his captivity and to invoking curses
| upon the head OF his captor
Their day Of vengeance came soon
/ enough. Carruth's candidacy for re-
! election opened the way for them to pay
the debt Even if ScOtty could not be
freed, Carruth should not remain his
/ guardian. The ballot became THEN
! weapon of a tack.
At this juncture Slocum appeared
among them, held several mysterious
/ conferences, freely distributed liquor,
and when he was gone. JacOville knew
that In consideration of its seven hum
dred votes going to Carruth for Sheriff,
| Scotty might go free. The exact terms
of the bargain or how 1t was to be car
ried out no one knew.
And SIocum returning home laid the
plan before Sheriff Carruth.
"Fer, said he, ignoring Carruth' plea
for honor in political work, "ef yer
don't do it, Carruth, yer beaten and so
is the party. Yer derned squeamish
ness will bust us all up. Do yer sup
pose the boys will help yer after yer
acting like that? There's nothing hard
about it. / don't care how yer let
| Scotty so. Fix it up any way yer
choose Only, if yer don have him
on the road ter Jacoville the night be-
fore elecshun, we'd all better scoOt up
| Salt Creek"
Carruth saw the point.
But he could not answer yet. Tell
ing Slocum that he would decide the
next day, he went ont into the night
alone.
PART H.
| When once under the stars his self
| posses sion came back and he reasoned
with himself To yield meant no par.
ticular harm to him, and much benefit.
To refuse brought with it not only his
own defeat, but the overthrow of his
party.
He meant to be honest and do we'll
by all men, but now he was calmly
considering a proposition to free a
criminal that the salvation of political
party might be insured.
He found no relief in considering
| either side of the question, so sought
his home, and then through the railing
of a woman's tongue, chose his course
of action.
Pretty Dolly Carruth-his wife-was
happy in all things but that feminine
matter Of dress. Hitherto her Eus-
bands income as Sheriff had given her
ample opportunity to be a leader Of
fashion. But now his impending de-
feat meant to her a change of circum-
Ia FL
lowing, a reduced position in the
social scale.
She could not bear to think of that
fate 1t was heart-rendering and the
more she brooded over the prospect
the more her anger rose against her
husband for not being able to win.
She gave him no sympathy In his eff
forts TO check the tide that was running
against him, but rather tainted him for
his weakness
This particular night when Carruth,
heart-sick, came into the CHEEKY parlor
| where she sat, she met him with the re-
prOach, 1T is a shame, Luke Carruth.
! to worry me so. 1 suppose you know
how badly You are beaten. thought
that when L married you that you
| would always have protected me from
such trouble as this. L wish the cleo
ton was over, and that we were out of
this, and that 1 was dead" and here
lacking words she burst into tears.
Carruth stood IN the center of the
room where he had stopped when she
began. He grew very pale as she went
on, and when she had finished, turned
and left the house again.
He went direct to SIocum's, routed
that worthy ont of bed and told him in
three words that ScOtty should go free.
Slocum chuckled, patted him on the
back, swore that he was a man to be
proud of, and showed him out OF the
door with great respect.
Later as Carruth was returning to
his own bed, he said to Dolly: @DO not
/ worry any more. L am elected.
! Whereupon she threw her arms around
his neck and kissed him. And that
eased his conscience for the time
The morning before election day
Carruth, entering the county jail, dis
missed his warden on some trihing
errand and alone entered the cell OF
Scotty. What was said between them
viii never be known, but when the
Sheriff, an hour later, went out and
left his prisoner, the latter possessed
keys that would open the doors that
swung between him and freedom. He
WAS 10 EaAALIG LA4--l III az LA4G lGiA
hour when the vigilance Of the turnkey
would be relaxed.
All the day Carruth was uneasy and
so ridden with the deed that he had
committed that he would fain have re-
coded.
Twice he entered the Jail to warn the
turnkey. Each time the thought of his
party and DOly's fearful face drove
him away.
At supper he could not sit easily, but
started up from his seat and paced the
floor, much to Dollys wOnderment. In
his mind he could see ScOtty softly
creeping out of his cell, stealing down
the corridor, and finally gaining the
outer door, with a bound drop into the
protecting darkness and speed away
Oy er the prairies to the comrades that
were waiting to welcome him.
He wished that he had not yielded.
After all the reward for his act was not
commensurate with the suffering that
1t was costing.
He might have refused to yield, he
reasoned, and mourning defeat, taken
Dolly, gone to new country and won
a higher position than even this. At
any rate, he would have saved his
honor.
With an effort he ceased these re-
Elections and awaited with bold face
the discovery Of Scotty's escape. He
would spend the evening with his wife
and in the morning act his part
He was on the point of telling Dolly
that he would stay at home that even
ing when there came the sound of men
running. His front door was violently
thrown omen and in rushed several citi-
zens, led by his turnkey. the latter cry
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